Premonition

Chapter #10: Twenty-One

As Keiji, Sarah and Stacy walked in between the tables Keiji noticed that the turnout for tonight was very large. Most of every table was filled, and Keiji noted that it might be difficult to get a table without much people.

“Let’s try a table in the back,” Keiji suggested to Stacy.

“Fine by me,” smiled Stacy. The trio were able to then find one singular table with one person at it. He had a red tie and was dressed in a black suit. Unfortunately, everything else was filled. Keiji thought it best if he asked the one patron if he was playing by himself. Keiji sat a chair away from him, Sarah stood behind him, and Stacy sat next to Keiji.

“Excuse me sir, are you playing alone? If you are, we can wait,” Keiji said politely.

“No, I am not playing, you may go ahead,” said the man with the red tie. At the end of their exchange, the dealer spoke up.

“Do not worry, he is just security,” the dealer said. “Are you here to play some blackjack?” Sarah shifted uncomfortably behind Keiji. Keiji noticed and tried to feign some confidence as he knew what she was thinking. That this would be much harder for them with security right next to them.

“Keep your shades on, don’t let him see what you’re doing with your eyes,” Sarah whispered.

“Sure,” Keiji whispered to Sarah. To the dealer, Keiji said, “Yes, myself and my friend here are here to play a couple of rounds.” Stacy smiled and waited for the dealer to signal the game was starting.

“Alrighty, do you all know how to play?” the dealer asked politely.

“Yes,” Keiji and Stacy said.

“Let’s get started then,” said the dealer. As he said this, the dealer gestured to them to make their bets. Keiji bet about the minimum, which was about $500. Stacy bet the same amount as well. She looked at Keiji.

“Just to start things off,” Stacy said, implying the low amount of their bets.

“I agree, just to start off,” Keiji said. The dealer then dealt out two cards to himself – one face down. Then 2 to Keiji, and 2 too Stacy, all face up. Keiji looked at his cards. It was a pair of 7’s. As he glanced over to Stacy’s hand, he noticed she had a jack and a 7 – which was 17. The dealer’s one revealed card was a king.

“Alright sir, what would you like to do?” the dealer asked.

“Let me think,” Keiji said. He then pushed his shades up further to cover his eyes, and blinked 3 times. A vision of the future appeared into his eyes and he saw the dealer deal him nothing. Next, he saw a 7 be dealt to Stacy which busted her. Finally, he saw the facedown card of the dealer to be another king. Keji blinked once to return his vision to normal and thought of his move. There was only one line of strategy and it would lead to him winning. He needed to hit and be dealt Stacy’s 7 so that he would be at 21. Even if he did not know what Stacy would do next, it wouldn’t matter as he was playing against the dealer. He was very lucky however. His ability to see 3 cards ahead in this game meant that if Stacy had hit more, he would not be able to discern the dealer’s hand – a crucial part in his strategy to cheat. For now, though he was in the clear and decided to hit. “Hit me,” Keiji said. The dealer dealt Keiji a card and as predicted it was a 7.

“Very good sir,” said the dealer noticing that Keiji had amassed a numerical value of 21. “And for the young lady?”

“I’ll hit as well,” Stacy said. As she said this, the dealer dealt Stacy a queen – which busted her hand. “Oh well, next time.” The dealer then revealed his hand and shuffled the cards into the deck to restart the game, as Keiji earning 21 meant he had already won. The dealer provided Keiji more chips for his winnings and congratulated him.

The rest of the night went very smoothly, each time with Keiji winning every round. Stacy herself stopped playing and ended up just watching Keiji along with Sarah, as they all became entranced with Keiji’s sudden and unstoppable winning streak. Even the dealer had a smile on his face. The only person to keep a very tight demeanor was the security guard as he very noticeably had his attention on the game with Keiji now. Keiji ended up sweating a bit because of this, but focused his efforts on the game. As the night ended and the dealer closed his table, Stacy and Sarah talked with Keiji.

“That was amazing Keiji, you really are good at this game.” Stacy said.

“Thanks,” Keiji said sheepishly. He looked at Sarah and gave a weak smile, knowing what he had done, he had done for his sister. “Let’s cash out.” As they were about to leave the table the security guard left as well, however in the opposite direction. He went through a security door of the casino and stopped in the hallway, with a radio in his hand.

“Sir, we have a situation,” said the security guard.

“Report,” said the voice on radio.

“We have another user of NX7…..” said the security guard.